The past weekend during their panels at PAX East, Gearbox Software and BioWare dropped a bit of news regarding their high-profile games. Lets start with the guys over at Bioware.

Lets be honest here, there was a huge elephant in the room when the panel got under way. The big question remained with the ending of the game and both sides were eager to see how the other was going to handle it. The BioWare guys decided to unveil the brand new free DLC coming…well…today to Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer for the low, low price of free. You’re getting access to new characters like the Batarian Soldier, Batarian Sentinel, Asari Justicar Adept, Geth Infiltrator, Geth Engineer, and Krogan Vanguard. You’re also getting your hands on 2 maps, new consumables, and new weapons like the Striker Assault Rifle and Kishock Harpoon Gun.

With that out of the way, it was time to get down to business: the Extended Cut DLC. BioWare wanted to stress that this wasn’t a new ending or a remixed ending. Basically, it’s an extended ending to provide better clarity and sense of closure. They stressed that it’s not an extra sequence but a massive amount of new scenes. No release date yet, but they’re aiming for a summer release.

Gearbox ended up settling on a 4:30pm panel time slot on Easter Sunday and to my surprise, an army of rabid fans showed up to attend. Screw Easter! So no free copies of the game were handed out this time around, but gamers did receive copious amounts of new information regarding the upcoming Borderlands 2.

First up, Gearbox revealed a new class coming to the game in the first round of post release DLC that’s being planned. Better yet? If you preorder the game, you’ll be nabbing this for free. The new class is called the Mechromancer and its a female human that’s also part robot. One of her abilities is controlling a Deathtrap robot which sounds like a type of Claptrap.

Character customization is also getting a bigger focus in the sequel and will be achieved through loot. Players will be allowed to collect new gear, costume pieces and heads through completing side missions and challenges. If you’ve played the first game, you’ll also get special skins and heads as well.

if that’s not enough, Gearbox also announced a special edition of the game for $149.99 that comes with a loot box (with untold goodies for you Vault Hunters), Marcus Bobblehead doll, and a copy of the game.